Warriors : Everything I Love
by Leafpelt of ThunderClan
Summary: Dustpelt was devastated when his mate died to the Dark Forest warriors. He was even more devastated when Birchfall and Spiderleg both passed to Greencough. But he finally broke when Foxleap and Icecloud disappeared. How far will he go to get his two remaining kits back?


**Chapter 1**

Dustpelt padded into camp with a mouse in his jaws. The warrior's dark brown ears were perked, though his tail was dragging like a heavy stick.

He made his way across the snow-covered clearing to the medicine cat den, where Jayfeather was busy treating the Greencough patients. Amberpaw, Birchfall, Spiderleg and Purdy were the victims to the deadly disease.

"What is it?" the blind medicine cat hissed, scenting Dustpelt.

"I brought a mouse for Birchfall," he meowed, dropping the rodent beside his sleeping son's nest.

"Thanks," the medicine cat meowed gruffly. Dustpelt dipped his head and backed out of the den, brambles scraping the top of the warrior's sleek head.

The tom padded over to the empty fresh-kill pile and laid down in the snow, the cold seeping through his fur and chilling his bones. He wished there was a better place to rest, but the snow had caved in the warriors' den. The only dens untouched was the leader's den, the medicine den, and the nursery. He'd sleep in the medicine den, but it was full of Greencough patients, and he'd sleep in the nursery, but it was full of queens and their kits.

Since the Great Battle, Dovewing and Ivypool had both moved in there, expecting kits. Daisy had another litter; Flowerkit, Dawnkit and Fernkit.

Flowerkit was a cream she-cat with one black ear tip. Dawnkit was an all-black she-kit with a single cream speck on the outside of her left ear. Fernkit was a completely cream she-cat with white paws and long legs. Dustpelt was especially fond of Fernkit- the kitten named after his deceased mate.

The tom got to his paws as a patrol trotted into camp. Two of his four remaining kits were in it; both Icecloud and Spiderleg had just gotten back from patrolling with Rosepetal and Bumblestripe.

"All clear," Spiderleg, the long-legged black tom, signaled to Bramblestar with his tail. The dark brown tabby dipped his head and continued watching the camp.

"Shh!" a rustling from the bushes to Dustpelt's left sent his head snapping towards that direction.

He scented Dawnkit, and Flowerkit. He purred. The rustling stopped.

"What was that?" Dawnkit meowed.

"Shh!" Flowerkit hissed, "It was Dustpelt purring."

"Oh."

"Oh no you don't," Dustpelt laughed, scooping Flowerkit up in his jaws just as she was about to fall into a small, snow-filled pit.

"Ah!" Dawnkit meowed, stepping back. Dustpelt gently set Flowerkit down and nudged Dawnkit away from the hole.

"What are you two ladies doing out here alone?" Dustpelt chastised the three moon old kits.

"Uh…" they chorused, then looked at their own paws and then turned their blue gazes back to Dustpelt.

"Back to the nursery, come on," the tom meowed, "Where's Fernkit?"

"She was right behind us," Dawnkit meowed, turning around.

Dustpelt's eyes widened with worry. Snow-covered traps and holes were all over- Fernkit could've easily fallen into one.

"I'm alright!" the kit squeaked, "Please don't be mad."

Dustpelt ignored the kit and watched her emerge from the bushes, fur covered in burrs.

"Nice," he rolled his amber eyes, "Now, back to Daisy."

He returned the three kits to the nursery and watched Daisy scold them. They nodded, tucked their tails between their legs, and padded off to their nests.

"Really," Flowerkit meowed, "I didn't want to sneak out. I just wanted to explore around the edges of camp."

Dustpelt rolled his eyes. He was glad he had caught the kits, but still mad at them for trying to sneak out. But, it was hard to stay mad at three fluff-balls. He knew that from experience.

…

"No!" Dustpelt cried, twitching in his sleep, "Ferncloud! Ferncloud!"

A tortoiseshell shape shook him awake, "Dustpelt?"

"Poppyfrost," he gasped, shaking his head to clear his eyes.

"Are you alright?" she meowed, concerned.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" he cocked his head.

The she-cat decided to drop the topic and instead informed the tom that he was supposed to be on the dawn patrol, "You're taking Foxleap, Amberpaw, Hazeltail and Snowpaw."

Dustpelt sighed at the mention of Snowpaw. The tom had gotten ever-more arrogant when Squirrelflight had convinced Bramblestar to let her mentor the tom.

The warrior had always thought the best part about having siblings was that you stuck up for each other, and were always there for each other, but Snowpaw thought differently. The overly-competitive tom always challenged Amberpaw and Dewpaw to some competition, and always boasted about winning, when he did, which was often. He was always boasting about this-or-that, and never let his siblings win during games or training fights. Sometimes Dustpelt just wanted to knock some sense into that white tom.

"Let's go," the tom meowed as he made his way over to the camp entrance. Foxleap nodded and let his father pass him. Dustpelt led the patrol away from camp, paws crushing the icy snow with ease.

Amberpaw stopped mid-way though the trek to the WindClan border to kick a chunk of snow at Snowpaw.

"I'm better at snowballs than you," he meowed, kicking a lump of snow in Amberpaw's direction. It hit her smack-dab in the face and she shook it off, stunned. She growled and turned away, stomping off. Dustpelt sighed. Foxleap groaned. Hazeltail rolled her eyes. Amberpaw sniffled. Snowpaw grinned.

"Hazeltail, take Snowpaw up towards the Moonpool. Make sure no-one crossed. Snowpaw, Hazeltail is in charge of you," Dustpelt ordered, "I, Foxleap and Amberpaw will go down this way, towards the lake."

"Sure," Hazeltail led the complaining apprentice away.

"I want to show everyone how good I am at patrolling!" he complained, trying to turn back. Hazeltail held his tail fast in her jaws.

"Come on," she growled. He sighed and padded alongside the grey-and-white she-cat, defeat evident in his posture.

Dustpelt turned back to the scene in front of him, where Foxleap had his nose pressed to the ground as if trying to pick up a scent.

"Crushed snow and a strange scent," he reported, "But the tracks go in circles, no-where else."

"Weird," Dustpelt meowed, "Really weird."

Suddenly, the snow seemed to just disappear beneath Foxleap's paws. Dustpelt scrambled backwards as the ground caved in and swallowed the russet tom.

"Foxleap!" Dustpelt called into the hole but there was no response.

"Help me in," he ordered Amberpaw, who was staring in shock. She nodded and steadied Dustpelt as he climbed over the edge of the hole.

"I'm coming, Foxleap!"

….


End file.
